The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1887-02-10
Food Sopllistications.

"There is no such thing in this city as
the adulteration of articles of food, as a
sanitary question:" said Health Commits
sioner De Wolf, of Chicago, to an Even-
ing Journal reporter who asked him to
what extent our food supply was adul.
terated. "There is sophistication OF
articles of food, and that sophistication is
a commercial fraud, but that is all there
is to it. The sophistication of cane su-
gar by glucose is not a sanitary question,
for glucose is as healthy as cane sugar.
The mixture of certain fruits with pep.
per berry to the extent of s, 10, or Is per
cent. is fraud upon the consumer. but
has no inssnitary feature. So with the
sophistication of all spices. The mixture
Of ground lemon shucks and ground
cocoanut shucks with spices is CONNER
cially fraud, but it does not affect the
sanitary product. Cohees are sophisti.
Gated and adulterated to reduce the price,
and the Rio coffee berry is by q process
ofroasting and polishing made TO resem-
BILE the Old Government Java. Flours,
the various preparations of oatmeal, and
starch of all kinds, are neither sophisti-
Gated nor adulterated in any way in our
city. The most our chemist finds in our
milk is the addition of water or the
removal of cream. There is occasionally
found, however, in pickles, cooked and
prepared for market, slight trace OF
copper. This copper is used to give them
the bright green tint. That is poisonous
aud is Objectionable. tits probably true,
also, that there have been times in this
city within the last ten years when con-
fectionery was colored with some salts
which are highly Objectionable, but I
presume this custom has ceased. 1t is
true, with the exceptions have told you,
there is no adulteration. 1t may be true
that peas are used to sophisticate coffee.
''They make coffee berries out of them.
That is getting to be quite an industry
down in Connecticut, where they manu-
facture wooden nutmegs. That is a
commercial fraud, but has no insanitary
feature. I have heard, also, that honey
was found ia the comb in beautiful cuts,
where neither the comb nor the contents
had ever seen a beehive. The comb was
manufactured out of parafine, and the
cells were filled with glucose, but that is
not sanitary violation. 1t is CONNER
cial fraud, honey is glucose. People
prefer spices that are sophisticated.
They won't buy and pay for spices that
are pure. Some time ago wholesale
grocery firm sent out all through this
community, at my request, spices that
they guaranteed to pc perfectly pure and
free from any sophistication, and they
only got one order, and that was from
General Phil Sheridan. The rest of the
people had rather pay nine cents pound
for pepper ground, when they know that
the good berry cannot be bought for lees
than eleven cents, for they know that the
adulteration doesn't hurt anything, and
answers inst as we'll. People in this city
will not buy and pay for condiments
which responsible firms guarantee to be
free from sophistication. They prefer q
sophisticated article at lower price. In
short, our great food products made up
OF the various preparations of -four,
wheat, rye, oats, all our starches, and all
kinds of flesh meat are perfectly pure"